THE AMERICAS
California got a new online poker bill that PokerStars says is the same as the old boss; five defendants in the Paul Phua illegal betting case have reached plea deals but Paul and his son are still fighting the good fight; the Iipay Nation’s online bingo site was declared a UIGEA violator; Betfair put its New Jersey online poker site out of its misery; Ontario’s online gambling site officially began its customer preview; tales of cocaine and extortion at Sam Nazarian’s Nevada license hearing; a New Jersey pol wants stricter license vetting of online gambling operators; the Minnesota Lottery’s online scratch tickets were targeted for termination; fantasy sports operators continue to sign up athletes and teams like there’s no tomorrow; Yahoo shut its social poker site before anyone realized it was there; Mexico’s new gambling legislation has spooked the country’s online poker players; laJuega.com’s Victor Espinosa offered operators a strategy for disrupting South America’s gaming environment and Jason Kirk pondered the new reality of online poker sponsorships.
EUROPE and MIDDLE EAST
Ladbrokes CEO Richard Glynn announced his exit after a turbulent four years; CVC Capital Partners paid £720m for 80% of Sky Bet; Betfair posted record H1 earnings; the UK government warned of a new horserace betting right; Cherry AB shed its CEO and gained a new online gambling focus; Paddy Power became the latest to close its real-money Facebook betting product; Dutch regulators issued a record fine to TitanBet’s parent company; Israeli authorities recommended charges against ICC-Cal for miscoding online gambling transactions; Spain insisted its online betting operators needed licenses to use Bitcoin; Rafi Farber considered the viability of an Intertain-Bwin.party merger; footballer Albert Riera lost his job after missing a match to play poker; Lee Davy reviewed the new poker documentary Nosebleed; MX Digital co-founder Eric Bischoff talked beer, branding and wrestling with Rebecca Liggero, who also provided video coverage of Day 1 and Day 2 of the inaugural Future iGaming confab.
ASIA
Macau casino revenue fell for the sixth straight month; Betfred closed its operations in the “overpopulated” Australian market; rumors spread of a BetEasy/Crown Resorts online betting partnership; South Korean casino operators’ stock slumped following Chinese media criticism; Iao Kun Group planned to devour smaller junket operators; Japan’s pachinko operators pursued international growth opportunities and an Aussie poker player successfully sued four other players over comments they made on Facebook.
